Alienware Power Limit Throttling

[MooOfDoom]

Hello, I have been trying to play games on my Alienware laptop when all of a sudden I start to lose frames (its like 20-30 frames). I couldn't figure out what the problem was until recently. I am almost certain that my computer power limit throttling is the reason why I drop frames when playing. If anyone on here could tell me how to fix this issue that would be great. Thank you

 

I have attached some images of my Throttlestop config. At the beginning of a stress test it doesn't limit the power but after about 30 seconds it goes from around 85W to 60W.

 

 

 

[Parideboy]

You might want to try some undervolting. Usually cpus can take -50mV with no problems. From there perform tests and decrease the voltage further in 5mV steps

[MooOfDoom]

10 minutes ago, Parideboy said:

You might want to try some undervolting. Usually cpus can take -50mV with no problems. From there perform tests and decrease the voltage further in 5mV steps

Hey thanks for the suggestion. I just tried that and I managed to get it to around 75W with the undervolt however, it still throttles around 30 seconds after I start the stress test.

[Parideboy]

4 minutes ago, MooOfDoom said:

Hey thanks for the suggestion. I just tried that and I managed to get it to around 75W with the undervolt however, it still throttles around 30 seconds after I start the stress test.

If it goes down to 2.20 Ghz it's not throttling, it just stopped boosting. You can try XTU to extend the amount of time in which the cpu stays boosted

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/it/download/29183/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU-?product=66427

[MooOfDoom]

6 minutes ago, Parideboy said:

If it goes down to 2.20 Ghz it's not throttling, it just stopped boosting. You can try XTU to extend the amount of time in which the cpu stays boosted

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/it/download/29183/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU-?product=66427

It doesn't go down to 2.20 it goes down to 3.6 from 3.9. Also if you looked at the Turbo Boost image that I attached you can see that I already maxed out the turbo boost time.

[MooOfDoom]

bump

[unclewebb]

Dell is known for using a long term power limit that is hard coded into their laptops. When testing, open up the Limit Reasons window. When stress testing and your CPU starts throttling, under the CORE column you are likely going to see PL1 or PL2 glowing red. That is the reason for throttling. These are the long and short turbo power limits.

 

You have set these power limits in ThrottleStop to 90W each. If you see PL1 or PL2 in red and power consumption is only 60W, that means that Dell has decided to limit your Alienware to 60W long term and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

You can undervolt your CPU. Less voltage reduces power consumption and this will allow the CPU to run a little faster before power limit throttling kicks in. For the 8750H, most users start testing with the core and cache offsets set equally to -125 mV. If you want to be more conservative, start testing with both voltages at -100 mV.

 

Download Cinebench R20 and run a baseline test.

https://www.maxon.net/en-us/products/cinebench-r20-overview/

 

If you are stable, start lowering only the core offset voltage by -25 mV at a time. Many of these CPUs will show improved performance in Cinebench until the core gets to about -200 mV. If you see an improvement in temperatures or Cinebench performance when doing this, you will also see an improvement in any modern game that uses the AVX instructions. Many people used to think that these voltages always had to be set equally but that is not true. Modern software can take advantage of different voltages. Older software cannot.

 

Edit - Set the turbo time limit back to the default setting of 28 seconds. You might also want to consider enabling Speed Shift Technology. It is the best way to control a modern Intel CPU that supports this feature. Once Speed Shift is enabled, you can adjust the Speed Shift EPP value on the main screen. Use an EPP setting of 0 for maximum speed and use a setting of 80 for more of a Balanced profile where the CPU will clock down when lightly loaded.

[MooOfDoom]

On 8/25/2020 at 11:28 AM, unclewebb said:

Dell is known for using a long term power limit that is hard coded into their laptops. When testing, open up the Limit Reasons window. When stress testing and your CPU starts throttling, under the CORE column you are likely going to see PL1 or PL2 glowing red. That is the reason for throttling. These are the long and short turbo power limits.

 

You have set these power limits in ThrottleStop to 90W each. If you see PL1 or PL2 in red and power consumption is only 60W, that means that Dell has decided to limit your Alienware to 60W long term and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

You can undervolt your CPU. Less voltage reduces power consumption and this will allow the CPU to run a little faster before power limit throttling kicks in. For the 8750H, most users start testing with the core and cache offsets set equally to -125 mV. If you want to be more conservative, start testing with both voltages at -100 mV.

 

Download Cinebench R20 and run a baseline test.

https://www.maxon.net/en-us/products/cinebench-r20-overview/

 

If you are stable, start lowering only the core offset voltage by -25 mV at a time. Many of these CPUs will show improved performance in Cinebench until the core gets to about -200 mV. If you see an improvement in temperatures or Cinebench performance when doing this, you will also see an improvement in any modern game that uses the AVX instructions. Many people used to think that these voltages always had to be set equally but that is not true. Modern software can take advantage of different voltages. Older software cannot.

 

Edit - Set the turbo time limit back to the default setting of 28 seconds. You might also want to consider enabling Speed Shift Technology. It is the best way to control a modern Intel CPU that supports this feature. Once Speed Shift is enabled, you can adjust the Speed Shift EPP value on the main screen. Use an EPP setting of 0 for maximum speed and use a setting of 80 for more of a Balanced profile where the CPU will clock down when lightly loaded.

Hey mate thanks for your response. I recently figured out the problem and how to fix it. In the bios I had to turn on cpu performance mode and the voltage limit got increased. I also turned on speedstep and set an epp setting of 0 for max performance. My computer now hits around 85W and isn't throttling anymore although im going to undervolt it further as I know I can push it further. Thanks

[MooOfDoom]

On 8/25/2020 at 11:28 AM, unclewebb said:

Dell is known for using a long term power limit that is hard coded into their laptops. When testing, open up the Limit Reasons window. When stress testing and your CPU starts throttling, under the CORE column you are likely going to see PL1 or PL2 glowing red. That is the reason for throttling. These are the long and short turbo power limits.

 

You have set these power limits in ThrottleStop to 90W each. If you see PL1 or PL2 in red and power consumption is only 60W, that means that Dell has decided to limit your Alienware to 60W long term and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

You can undervolt your CPU. Less voltage reduces power consumption and this will allow the CPU to run a little faster before power limit throttling kicks in. For the 8750H, most users start testing with the core and cache offsets set equally to -125 mV. If you want to be more conservative, start testing with both voltages at -100 mV.

 

Download Cinebench R20 and run a baseline test.

https://www.maxon.net/en-us/products/cinebench-r20-overview/

 

If you are stable, start lowering only the core offset voltage by -25 mV at a time. Many of these CPUs will show improved performance in Cinebench until the core gets to about -200 mV. If you see an improvement in temperatures or Cinebench performance when doing this, you will also see an improvement in any modern game that uses the AVX instructions. Many people used to think that these voltages always had to be set equally but that is not true. Modern software can take advantage of different voltages. Older software cannot.

 

Edit - Set the turbo time limit back to the default setting of 28 seconds. You might also want to consider enabling Speed Shift Technology. It is the best way to control a modern Intel CPU that supports this feature. Once Speed Shift is enabled, you can adjust the Speed Shift EPP value on the main screen. Use an EPP setting of 0 for maximum speed and use a setting of 80 for more of a Balanced profile where the CPU will clock down when lightly loaded.

Nvm I was just playing MFS and it started to throttle again. It has PL 2 on the core area and EDP OTHER on the ring area red. I have my voltage offset on my cpu core and cache at -80V as anymore an my computer will crash. Am I only supposed to change the cpu core or the cache as well because that could be why my computer crashed when I undervolted it to -125V. My turbo time limit is 28 seconds and my turbo power maxes are the same as they were in the previous images I posted in the thread. I have enabled speedshft btw. It also doesn't currently throttle when I run cinebench R20, only when im playing something like MFS does it throttle. (MFS is Microsoft Flight Simulator)

[unclewebb]

Read my post about using Cinebench R20 when adjusting voltages. If the core and cache are stable at -80 mV, use that as your baseline. Now try adjusting only the core offset further. Leave the cache at -80 mV. Does decreasing only the core further help at all in Cinebench R20? Better temps or better performance?

 

Run a ThrottleStop log file while gaming. It will give you a better indication of how many watts your laptop allows before CPU throttling starts. In your previous tests, it looked like 60W is the long term limit being enforced by your laptop. You might have seen over 80W before and thought the problem was solved. Best to play a demanding game for 15 minutes or so. The log file will clearly show if there is a problem or not. Turn on Nvidia GPU monitoring in the Options window so you can watch for GPU throttling as well. It is usually just the CPU that gets throttled. Intel made it easy for manufacturers to do this. Attach a log file to your next post if you want me to have a look at it. You can also copy and paste the data to www.pastebin.com

 

Having the Nvidia GPU active can trigger CPU throttling at a lower power limit. That is why you might see zero throttling when testing with Cinebench R20. As soon as you start a game, the Nvidia GPU becomes active and the CPU power limit is dropped.

 

[01Angel10]

Hi, I am having the same issue whit my alienware 15R3 power limit throttling while gaming and now dell is not allowing undervolting in these laptop, if some one have another alternative to resolve these problem i will appreciate your help.

[unclewebb]

@01Angel10 Power Limit throttling at only 35W is terrible. 

 

This website shows how to unlock CPU voltage control on many Dell laptops.

 

https://brendangreenley.com/undervolting-2020-dell-laptops-like-the-vostro-7500-and-more-tips-to-improve-thermals-battery-life-and-speed/#cpu-undervolt

 

For the power limit throttling issue, try running ThrottleStop and check the Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits box in the FIVR window. Avoid running Intel XTU and ThrottleStop at the same time since they will both be writing difference values to the same CPU registers.

 

I would also enable Speed Shift Technology in the TPL window and I would disable BD PROCHOT on the main screen. These tricks have helped out quite a few Dell laptops.